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Connor Barth
Connor Thomas Barth (born April 11, 1986) is an American football placekicker for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He played college football at North Carolina and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008. Barth has also been a member of the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He currently holds the highest field goal percentage in Buccaneers franchise history, a record he achieved during the 2011 season. He also broke another franchise record during the 2012 season in which he made 25 consecutive field goals. Personal Barth is the son of Thomas and Susan Barth. His younger brother, Casey, was also a placekicker for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. Early years Barth was named to the first-team high school All-America by USA Today during his prep career at John T. Hoggard High School in Wilmington, NC. He played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, where he was named the top kicker in the combine. He was selected to the inaugural EA Sports High School All-America Team. Out of high school, Barth was considered one of the best kickers in the country by most recruiting services. He set the North Carolina state record for field goals in a season and career with 38. The Charlotte Observer ranked him among the top 25 overall players in North Carolina. In 2002, he had a string of 40 consecutive extra points. Playing as apunter and a kicker, Barth made 11 of 14 field goals that year. He also was 53 of 54 on extra point attempts as a Junior. He kicked 75 percent of his kickoffs into the end zone. As a punter, he punted 42 times for a 38.2-yard average. College career As a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Barth was named second-team freshman All-America by Rivals.com. He was also an honorable-mention All-ACC member. In 2004, he made 14 of 18 field goals and 35 of 37 extra point attempts. He is well known for a 42-yard game-winning field goal as time expired against No. 4 Miami. He made his first career field goal on a 22-yard attempt at Virginia As a sophomore, Barth made 11 of 21 field goals. He struggled throughout the season, but connected on eight of his last 10. Barth (#10) kicks a field goal in UNC's win over Maryland in 2007. In 2006, as a junior, Barth made all 10 field goal attempts and 24 of 26 extra points. He was the only kicker in the country with a perfect 100% field goal percentage. In a game against North Carolina State, Barth made a 54-yarder that was his career best and tied for the second-longest in school history. In 2007, as a senior, he made 19 of 22 field goals and 30 of his final 33 attempts, dating back to his sophomore season. He earned first-team All-ACC honors from Rivals.com and honorable mention all-conference honors from the Associated Press. Against Miami, Barth kicked a career-high four field goals in the 33-27 win and was named the ACC special teams player of the week. He graduated UNC with a Communications major. He previously held the UNC record for most made field goals (54). His brother Casey Barth now holds the current record (55). Statistics Professional career Kansas City Chiefs Barth was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008. He failed to beat out Nick Novak for the team's placekicking job and was waived by the Chiefs on August 29. Barth was re-signed by the team on October 21 after Novak was released, becoming the seventh kicker on the Chiefs roster in two years. In his first NFL game, Barth went 1-for-1 on field goal attempts and 3-for-3 on extra points. He remained perfect up until a week 15 game (going in he was 9 for 9) where he missed 2 field goal attempts, including what would have been a game winning 50 yarder as time expired. Barth was waived by the Chiefs on July 28, 2009, in favor of Ryan Succop. Miami Dolphins Barth was signed by the Miami Dolphins on August 10, 2009 to compete with incumbent Dan Carpenter. However, the Dolphins waived Barth on August 29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Barth in 2012 while with the Buccaneers. Barth was signed by the Buccaneers on November 3, 2009 after the Bucs released Shane Andrus. Barth tied an NFL record held by three other kickers when he made three field goals of 50 yards or more against the Miami Dolphins on November 15, 2009; the kicks were from 51, 50 and 54 yards. The record is shared with Morten Andersen, Neil Rackers, Kris Brown, and Josh Scobee. On December 27, 2009 Barth kicked a 47-yard overtime field goal to give the Bucs the win over New Orleans, 20-17. On October 10, 2010 Barth kicked a 31-yard field goal with :01 left in the game to give the Bucs a 24-21 lead over Cincinnati. On July 17, 2013, Barth was placed on injured reserve and missed the 2013 season with an Achilles injury suffered while taking part in a charity basketball game. Barth was replaced by veteran place kicker Rian Lindell. During the 2013 offseason, the Buccaneers signed rookie Patrick Murray to compete with Barth. On August 29, 2014 Barth was released by the Buccaneers, losing to Patrick Murray. Denver Broncos On November 25, 2014 Barth signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos after they released their previous kicker, Brandon McManus. Career Stats